Today, I got a bit of a pass. A tiny bit of time off, agreed upon by the big guy and I. Just a meeting and afternoon of playtime for Maelynn. I went over what we needed from the grocery store, and decided that we could wait for a few things. The one thing I knew we needed I'd grab at the store in town.
The one thing I needed was Ryan's fruit snacks for his lunch.
I'd noticed before that they didn't have them at the grocery store, but that they did have them at the dollar store in town, so I'd simply make a quick run over there.
After a particularly harried afternoon, a surprise downpour, and a little boy who didn't want to work with his speech therapist or do his homework, I ran out after dinner to grab that one thing. Just fruit snacks, and I was sure I had seen them.
Turns out I saw the brand, but not his FLAVOR. Ugh.
So I got something that he might like that might be different yet the same enough that he'd try it. Then I grabbed some of those boxed, chewy, individually wrapped brownies that likely have enough preservatives to mummify a small dog. But hey, that would be a great treat, and maybe enough to counteract the fruit snack mishap.
A slightly panicked trip next door to the actual grocery store yielded fruit snacks in every shape, kind, character, and flavor imaginable... you guessed it... except for Ryan's. There was, however, an off brand that looked more like his. I know, he'll know, and he will likely not be thrilled. But I did my best.
This week has been a great reminder of a few things so far. One of the biggest is that although we work to seamlessly shift Ryan from task to task, event to event, place to place, there are so many things we just cannot control.
Sometimes, we have to make choices that aren't the best for Ryan. There will be times when situations surface that are not scrubbable, moldable, or changeable. Sometimes just because we can make things easier for him doesn't mean we should at that moment. Sometimes there are other things to consider.
Sometimes there are times that I just drop the ball, plain and simple.
And you know what?
We will all live through it.
It may get noisy, I may get a call from school, I may have to go grab him a little early. But really, I love the kid. I miss having him around when he's not here. So what's the worst thing that will happen? He will lose his composure about having the wrong fruit snacks in his lunch. I'll get him early. Best case scenario? He eats the different ones, or bypasses them and goes for the brownie.
It's crazy how much something so simple can mean in his life. My mind has already gone down the road of the brownie as a precedent setter. Maybe I need to have a brownie in his lunch on home football game days, so that he knows if he's wearing his band shirt and he's eating a brownie at lunch he's going to the game that night. Hmm. That might stop a little of the begging for a game every night of the week. But no, I have enough to keep up with, thank you. Maybe this will start a fit every day that he opens his lunch and doesn't see one.
See how it gets? Seriously, at some point, I have to stick my feet out and stop this merry-go-round, no matter how much gravel kicks up and how dirty I get. I did try to correct my mistake. I did make a mistake. I'm likely going to do that again.
So for tonight, I'm letting it go. Kid gets a pack of sub-part fruit snacks and a brownie apology. I've already agonized over this all evening. I've kicked myself, I've run around trying to find the right thing in the right package. There is a good chance he's not going to be happy tomorrow when he opens his Lightning McQueen lunch pack and finds the wrong fruit snacks.
Amazing that the creator of heaven and earth and all who inhabit it can forgive an immeasurable amount of folks for an equally immeasurable amount of utter wrongdoing, and I'm freaking out over fruit snacks.
It's a good thing His mercies are new every morning.
Thanks be to the God who never drops the ball on even the tiniest thing.
The one thing I needed was Ryan's fruit snacks for his lunch.
I'd noticed before that they didn't have them at the grocery store, but that they did have them at the dollar store in town, so I'd simply make a quick run over there.
After a particularly harried afternoon, a surprise downpour, and a little boy who didn't want to work with his speech therapist or do his homework, I ran out after dinner to grab that one thing. Just fruit snacks, and I was sure I had seen them.
Turns out I saw the brand, but not his FLAVOR. Ugh.
So I got something that he might like that might be different yet the same enough that he'd try it. Then I grabbed some of those boxed, chewy, individually wrapped brownies that likely have enough preservatives to mummify a small dog. But hey, that would be a great treat, and maybe enough to counteract the fruit snack mishap.
A slightly panicked trip next door to the actual grocery store yielded fruit snacks in every shape, kind, character, and flavor imaginable... you guessed it... except for Ryan's. There was, however, an off brand that looked more like his. I know, he'll know, and he will likely not be thrilled. But I did my best.
This week has been a great reminder of a few things so far. One of the biggest is that although we work to seamlessly shift Ryan from task to task, event to event, place to place, there are so many things we just cannot control.
Sometimes, we have to make choices that aren't the best for Ryan. There will be times when situations surface that are not scrubbable, moldable, or changeable. Sometimes just because we can make things easier for him doesn't mean we should at that moment. Sometimes there are other things to consider.
Sometimes there are times that I just drop the ball, plain and simple.
And you know what?
We will all live through it.
It may get noisy, I may get a call from school, I may have to go grab him a little early. But really, I love the kid. I miss having him around when he's not here. So what's the worst thing that will happen? He will lose his composure about having the wrong fruit snacks in his lunch. I'll get him early. Best case scenario? He eats the different ones, or bypasses them and goes for the brownie.
It's crazy how much something so simple can mean in his life. My mind has already gone down the road of the brownie as a precedent setter. Maybe I need to have a brownie in his lunch on home football game days, so that he knows if he's wearing his band shirt and he's eating a brownie at lunch he's going to the game that night. Hmm. That might stop a little of the begging for a game every night of the week. But no, I have enough to keep up with, thank you. Maybe this will start a fit every day that he opens his lunch and doesn't see one.
See how it gets? Seriously, at some point, I have to stick my feet out and stop this merry-go-round, no matter how much gravel kicks up and how dirty I get. I did try to correct my mistake. I did make a mistake. I'm likely going to do that again.
So for tonight, I'm letting it go. Kid gets a pack of sub-part fruit snacks and a brownie apology. I've already agonized over this all evening. I've kicked myself, I've run around trying to find the right thing in the right package. There is a good chance he's not going to be happy tomorrow when he opens his Lightning McQueen lunch pack and finds the wrong fruit snacks.
Amazing that the creator of heaven and earth and all who inhabit it can forgive an immeasurable amount of folks for an equally immeasurable amount of utter wrongdoing, and I'm freaking out over fruit snacks.
It's a good thing His mercies are new every morning.
Thanks be to the God who never drops the ball on even the tiniest thing.
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